NASA: A planned mission to land on the moon in 2026 will now take place no earlier than mid-2027. 

 

 

 

 FULL Story is HERE!

Thank You New Yorker

 I agree, and it's good to see a mainstream media outlet that is also astonished by people's reaction to the murder of Brian Thompson:

The Lede

A Man Was Murdered in Cold Blood and You’re Laughing?

What the death of a health-insurance C.E.O. means to America.

By Jia Tolentino

December 7, 2024

 

FULL STORY HERE.

Another Gooodby To The Past

 Telecommunications company AT&T will eliminate traditional landline phone service to nearly all of the U.S. in its service area---including Alabama--- over the next five years.

 The old fashioned phone booths are already a thing of the past.

When will all phones be chips embedded in out heads? 😎

The South. Without Alabama.

 A N.Y. Times story about Southern Foods manages to avoid even a single mention of "Alabama".

Really???

This is a SIN!

Really? No Sympathy?

The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has triggered a wave of rage-filled reactions on social media, most of them expressing contempt and dissatisfaction for the health insurance industry he represented.

 https://www.al.com/news/2024/12/blue-cross-blue-shield-drops-surgery-anesthesia-limit-as-ceos-murder-sparks-celebration.html

Really???

"Biggest" Snow Day in Montgomery, on this date.....in 1886...138 Years Ago!

 

Alabama Snow Facts (1872-2021)

Top Five Snow Days

1. 7.1” - December 5th, 1886
2. 4.1” - February 25th, 1914
3. 4.0” - February 23rd, 1901
4. 4.0” - December 29th, 1880
5. 3.9” - December 6th, 1886
6. 3.8" - March 13th, 1993
7. 3.5" - February 12th, 2010
8. 3.5" - December 31st, 1899
9. 3.5" - December 24th, 1881
10. 3.1" - February 9th, 1973
    
    
    
    

BBC: The TRUE story behind The Bison Skulls Photo

 

"The skulls, experts say, are the evidence of an organized, carefully calculated campaign to eradicate the bison, deprive Native Americans of a vital resource, and drive the few communities that survived onto small reservations where they could be controlled by the newly arrived white settlers."

FULL STORY HERE.

Need More Reasons To Hate Russia?

(Reuters)

Putin-controlled aircraft deported Ukrainian children, US-backed research alleges

Full Story is HERE.

Reuters Reporting on Hyundai Strike in South Korea

Hyundai Motor union plans strikes on Thursday and Friday

By Reuters

December 4, 20242:12 AM CSTUpdated 5 hours ago

The logo of Hyundai Motors is seen at the company's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

, opens new tab

SEOUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor's (005380.KS)

, opens new tab labour union plans to stage strikes for four hours each on Thursday and Friday, a union spokesperson said on Wednesday. South Korea's Metal Workers' Union, of which the Hyundai Motor union is part, plans to launch a full strike from Dec. 11 unless South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol steps down, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

Yoon is under fire to resign or face impeachment after he declared martial law only to reverse the move hours later, drawing criticism from various unions and groups.

Hyundai Motor was not immediately available for comment.

Stay up to date with the latest news, trends and innovations that are driving the global automotive industry with the Reuters Auto File newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Writing by Joyce Lee; editing by Jason Neely

Hyundai Success

 "The year isn't over yet, but it sure looks like Hyundai will finish in grand fashion. While many automakers are struggling with losses, the South Korean brand is riding high with year-over-year growth. SUVs are still the top sellers, but that's not what got our attention. The Sonata just posted a 200-percent sales increase for November and is up 46 percent through the year. Sedans are decidedly not dead."

SOURCE: https://www.motor1.com/news/743086/hyundai-sales-growth-2024/

Goodby "Blue Bloods", Especially Selleck.

Blue Bloods – Ending in 2024

Blue Bloods was renewed for a 14th season with the core cast – Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes – all returning.

The first 10 episodes of the final season aired from February-May of 2024, and the remaining eight episodes will run in fall of 2024.

(My dislike for the show is really part of my dislike for Selleck, which really is my dislike for his endless commercials for reverse-mortgage schemes. He should be ashamed for them!)

The Top Five Supposed "Best" States In which to live...

 

Best U.S. States to Live In 2024

« Previous

5. Idaho
BEST CATEGORY: #2 in Economy
WORST CATEGORY: #29 in Natural Environment

4. Minnesota
BEST CATEGORY: #2 in Natural Environment
WORST CATEGORY: #26 in Economy

3. Nebraska
BEST CATEGORY: #3 in Fiscal Stability
WORST CATEGORY: #25 in Health Care

2. New Hampshire
BEST CATEGORY: #1 in Crime & Corrections
WORST CATEGORY: #38 in Fiscal Stability

1. Utah
BEST CATEGORY: #2 in Education
WORST CATEGORY: #46 in Natural Environment

NOTE: The ranking was sourced from U.S. News & World Report.

HERE's the full report...Alabama is ranked 44th:

44. Alabama
BEST CATEGORY: #19 in Fiscal Stability
WORST CATEGORY: #47 in Natural Environment 

Years Ago....

 https://www.al.com/news/2024/12/a-lot-of-this-stuff-happened-years-ago-tuberville-says-of-pete-hegseth-rape-allegations.html

‘A lot of this stuff happened years ago,’ Tuberville says of Pete Hegseth rape allegations

So forgetaboutit Senator? Really? And if it were your wife or sister, is that what you would tell her?

Biden Pardon

 

Statement from President Joe Biden

Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. 
 
The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.   
 
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough. 
 
For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision. 
 

###

 
Executive Grant of Clemency
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America
 
To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:
 
Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto
 
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN
 
A Full and Unconditional Pardon
 
For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
 
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.
 
Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.

###

 I have NO interest in Tetris. 

Or Tetris Forever.

NONE.

Patel is "Perfect"

 He's said he will use the FBI to punish people to "exact revenge" on enemies of the president-elect. Despite that comment, one of Alabama's U.S. Senators supports Patel's nomination as FBI Director:

The N.Y. Times reports: "Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama and a fierce Trump loyalist, called Mr. Patel “the perfect pick.”

No immediate word from the state's other U.S. Senator, Katie Britt. 

(As of December 3rd...no word from Sen. Britt)

Mobile Hospital Ranked #1 in The State

 Infirmary Health (Mobile)

Ranked #1  in Alabama

 

The largest non-governmental healthcare system in the state of Alabama.

Since 1910, Infirmary Health has provided the Gulf Coast region state-of-the-art and compassionate care. Today, Infirmary Health is the largest private, not-for-profit health system in Alabama. Our 6,400+ team members, growing physician network, and 50+ service lines are what set us apart. With our four acute care hospitals, three post-acute care facilities, three ambulatory surgical centers and over 60 physician practice locations, Infirmary Health is more devoted to your LIFE.

With these state-of-the-art facilities close to home, we seek to provide excellent medical services to as many people in the Gulf Coast community as possible. With a devotion to our patients, our mission is your LIFE, and our vision is to be the Gulf Coast’s FIRST CHOICE in healthcare.

 

Remembering

 

James Baldwin's death was 37 Years ago today.

Here he is (left) with Joan Baez and James Foreman, fellow activists, in Montgomery in 1965 during the Selma to Montgomery March.

Vietnam Further Re-united

 When I was in Vietnam, the split between the north and the south of the country was the center of the reason I was there!

Me, at the Press Center

The U.S. was IN 'Nam to secure the supposedly more democratic South from being taken over by the LESS democratic North, though now I question a lot of that.

But here we are today...in 2024...and the reunited Vietnam is planning to build a high-speed rail-line connecting the two former capitals even more:

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Saturday approved the construction of a high-speed railway connecting the capital Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh city in the south at an estimated cost of $67 billion.

The ambitious railway line will stretch 1,541 kilometers (957 miles) between the Vietnamese capital and the financial capital in the south. The new train is expected to travel at speeds of up to 350 kph (217 mph), reducing the journey from the current 30 hours to just five hours.

 

Language

 I see grammatical errors everywhere online.

One of the most common is the use of "that" instead of "who" when referring to person. One example is the headline from a story I read today.

 

Moon landing quiz: How quickly can you name all 12 Apollo astronauts that walked on the moon?

(Astronauts are PEOPLE. People WHO walked on the moon.)

The Mars "Teddy Bear"

 

In an image shared in January 2023 by the University of Arizona (UA), what appears to be the face of an enormous Martian teddy bear — complete with two beady eyes, a button nose and an upturned mouth — grins at the camera of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. According to UA, the cuddly-wuddly formation is likely just a broken-up hill in the center of an ancient crater. But as far as we're concerned, it's the cutest pile of rubble in the known universe.

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)

Happy 70th Anniversary---Space Rock Hits Woman

 

70 years ago today....Alabama woman hit by meteorite in Sylacauga.

As we reported last year, a woman in France was recently hit by a space rock too.

Elon Musk: F35 is "Worst".

 “Some US weapons systems are good, albeit overpriced, but please, in the name of all that is holy, let us stop the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program!” Elon Musk wrote.

Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article296199654.html#storylink=cpy

 

The connection: Montgomery is home to an F35 Air National Guard program. 

 

Alabama Hospitals in Danger of Closing

 

More than 700 rural U.S. hospitals are at risk of closure due to financial problems, with more than half of those hospitals at immediate risk of closure.

Alabama
27 hospitals at risk of closing (53%)
23 at immediate risk of closing in next 2-3 years (45%) 

The count comes from the latest analysis from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, which is based on CMS's October 2024 hospital financial information. The center's analysis reveals two distinct levels of vulnerability among rural healthcare facilities: risk of closure and immediate risk of closure.

In the first category, nearly every state has hospitals at risk of closure, measured by financial reserves that can cover losses on patient services for only six to seven years. In over half the states, 25% or more of rural hospitals face this risk, with 10 states having a majority of their rural hospitals in jeopardy.

The report also analyzes hospitals facing immediate threat of closure meaning financial reserves could offset losses on patient services for two to three years at most. Currently, 364 rural hospitals are at immediate risk of shutting down due to severe financial difficulties.

SOURCE: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/705-hospitals-at-risk-of-closure-state-by-state-november-2024.html?utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter

Walmart-DEI reduction

 Walmart is eliminating its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and that's prompted some Alabama activists to call for a boycott tomorrow, so-called "black Friday":

 “We are calling on individuals across the state—and beyond—to stand in solidarity by boycotting Walmart this Friday and urging the company to restore its commitment to DEI and support for minority entrepreneurs.”